OPINION: National Energy Guarantee delivers lower cost energy

BATTERY: Lake Barrington spills a little over Devils Gate Dam. Energy Minister Guy Barnett says Tasmania plans to make the most of our competitive advantages in world class water and wind resources through the National Energy Guarantee.

The Hodgman Liberal Government supports the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) because it will deliver more affordable, reliable and cleaner energy. It mirrors our Tasmania First Energy Policy.

After more than a decade of policy paralysis, the NEG is the only policy on the table. There is no Plan B. The Turnbull Coalition government has for the first time, brought together climate and energy policy that delivers lower power prices and investment certainty. It’s time to act.

As Australia’s renewable energy power house, Tasmania has what the nation wants and needs – low cost, reliable and clean energy.

This is not the time to play politics. The community rightly demands certainty over power prices and reliability, while working to deliver a cleaner energy future.

As Australia’s renewable energy power house, Tasmania has what the nation wants and needs – low cost, reliable and clean energy.

Lower power prices should be a top priority of any government.

That is why our government was delighted the Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator pronounced last week Tasmania has the lowest power prices in Australia for residential and small business customers.

Addressing cost of living pressures and the cost of doing business is at the core of our Tasmania First Energy Policy and it is working. We have capped power prices at the inflation rate for two consecutive years, saving Tasmanians year in, year out.

Tasmania has a world class water and wind resource. We have a competitive advantage and plan to make the most of it.

Recent economic surveys reveal a high level of business confidence in Tasmania, thriving on a buoyant economy. CommSec’s State of the States report showed that Tasmania recorded the fastest annual pace of economic growth over the last year in Australia, at double the national average.

On top of this Sensis Business Index has confirmed support for the Hodgman Liberal Government’s policies (from small to medium businesses), at record highs and double that of other States.

The NEG strengthens the case for a second Bass Strait cable which Infrastructure Australia described as a national priority. Burnie and Port Latta have been identified as preferred sites for a landing stage. It assists Tasmania in its goal to become the Battery of the Nation. The Prime Minister describes both these projects as “national infrastructure”.

We stand ready to offer our energy, around the clock, not only to Tasmanian consumers but to export our surplus to those in energy hungry and supply starved cities in other states. Tasmania’s hydro-electricity provides an indisputable answer to the replacement of aging coal-fired power stations on the mainland.

We will achieve this by upgrading our existing hydro schemes, and by building new pumped hydro schemes, capable of storing and re-using water that has passed through power station turbines again and again and again.

Already 14 potential sites for pumped hydro schemes have been identified. This list will be reduced to a short-list of prime sites, capable of doubling Tasmania’s current 2500 megawatt capacity. These projects would create thousands of jobs, and provide up to $5 billion worth of investment for Tasmania.

Alongside this enormous hydro potential new wind farms are currently under construction at Cattle Hill and Granville Harbour with the un-tapped wind resources ready for development at Robbins Island on the North West Coast. These developments are already delivering investment and hundreds of jobs in regional Tasmania.

Our Tasmania-First Energy Policy will achieve 100 per cent self-sufficient, renewable generation by 2022. Other states are currently below 50 per cent. We are already well above 90 per cent.

Hydro-electricity that was once scorned nationally by environmentalists, but now they crave our hydro livery because it delivers clean, low emission, dispatchable power. We can move on from the environmental conflict that has hampered past developments. Sadly some extreme green groups have lead a misleading campaign to derail the historic decision before us.

Our government supports the NEG. Labor states will play politics with this historic resolution at their peril.

Our strategy continues to transform Tasmania into an attractive place to live and to invest. Post-war hydro-industrialisation was a great success that left a lasting legacy in which we can be proud. We are now moving into a new era. One with the potential to deliver decades of low cost energy, economic benefits and jobs for Tasmanians.